Pulling Apart Pulitzer Prize-Winning Dramas

Description Here is another play that pleasantly surprised me. The play seems to be part Rabbit Hole , part The Subject Was Roses , part Next to Normal  . . . Although I find many comparisons available, I maintain that the play is unique. And what is it about? Three individuals (Joe, Brian, and Agnes) are going to die soon with no prevention available from the hospital. They have been selected to be part of an experiment wherein psychologists will perform interviews with them to track . . . well, just what we don't know. Throughout the play, the individuals step into a spotlit portion of the stage to speak with a voice coming from the void to discuss their attitudes and thoughts on death. Each individual has been given a cottage wherein they can spend their final moments. Loved ones are just about to visit each person. Joe's wife, Maggie, arrives with their son, Stephen. Maggie has not told Stephen about the inevitable death and Stephen lives in youthful bliss. Brian...

Description August Wilson is the first African-American playwright to win the Pulitzer for Drama twice. Fences , of course, landed his first victory. Now, the only other African-American playwright to have won multiple Pulitzer Prizes for Drama is Lynn Nottage. The Piano Lesson  takes the slot of the '30s in Wilson's famed Pittsburgh cycle, a series of ten plays he wrote to capture each decade of the African-American experience in 20th century America. The plot is quite simple: two siblings fight over what to do with their family. The piano is carved with the faces of their ancestors and its presence in Berniece's house calls for remembrance of old wounds, bravery, and the (re)establishment of identity. When her brother, Boy Willie, returns to announce his intentions to sell the piano in order to gain enough money to pay for a large span of land, family tensions rise . . . and the ghost of the previous white owner of the family and piano adds to the conflict. The play ...